Once upon a time there was Blueberry Fusion, an upstart photography and videography company. In 2013, the company dropped the “Fusion” and rebranded as Blueberry Creative. Last month, business partners Adam Gilbert and Austin Stinson debuted a new brand – Blueberry Commercial.

Over the years, wedding and special event gigs were Blueberry Creative’s bread and butter. But increasingly, the company was adding commercial work.

“We kind of ran into a little bit of an issue with business and wedding clients when they come to our brand,” Gilbert said. “We had wanted to create a separate brand for a few years.”

Blueberry Commercial launched publicly in January with a new website, blueberry-commercial.com, and Facebook page.

Gilbert says Blueberry’s devotion to storytelling is what helps it stand out from an increasingly crowded marketplace. Not only do companies like Blueberry compete against each other for local business, they have to compete against a growing number of do-it-yourselfers who can now afford some of the equipment that would have been out of reach for amateur photographers even a few years ago.

But changes in technology also offer more exciting ways to tell stories.

“Technology is always going to be a big part of our industry,” Gilbert said.

Aerial capabilities have really opened up options for clients, and the ubiquity of social media has allowed Blueberry to play with scope.

“With television [commercials] we’re limited as far as our time,” Gilbert said. “When you’re creating content designed specifically for websites or social media you have a wide variety of options.”

He said the brand films he produces for the web are usually somewhere between two and four minutes. Those longer pieces can then be the blueprint for shorter pieces for, say, TV or Instagram.

Fancy 4K cameras may lead to improved picture quality, which is everything in this business, but they also lead to a bigger drain on the computers that can store and process the files. So having the right tech on the front-end and back-end is key, and Gilbert knows Blueberry needs to always stay ahead of the curve.

But no matter the technology available, Gilbert said his favorite part will always be getting to know a company and focusing on what makes that business unique.

“The companies we work with are a bit more nontraditional in what they are looking for,” he said.

Past clients have included the ever- quirky Freakers company, plus the N.C. Azalea Festival and several area nonprofits, including the United Way of Cape Fear and the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Prevention of Youth Violence.

With the Blueberry Commercial brand launch out of the way, Gilbert says the company will focus on creating a more streamlined workflow for its clients. Also, Stinson, Gilbert’s partner, recently moved to Charlotte, opening an office for both Blueberry brands there.

As the company charts its course through 2017, Gilbert said the stability of Blueberry Creative’s already- booked wedding business will give Blueberry Commercial time to expand.

“We want to keep learning and keep growing,” he said.